Symbiosis
by Heart of Bubbles
Summary: A story of two women who learn to rely on each other for the companionship they never had before, Symbiosis is a tale of love and codependence illustrated by sharing anecdotes from their shared days working at the local pool and by describing their life as a committed couple in the modern world struggling to juggle work and college. - Cover image by Schocolad on DA.
1. Proposal

_When people are caught between a rock and a hard place, we often have a fight or flight response. In a split second decision, we either give all we have to defy the situation, or run from it until we run out of breath. Usually when all we see are these two options, life seems awfully hopeless and we lose sight of what mattered at the beginning. Funnily enough, it takes just as little effort to reinstill this hope in a person after she had lost it as to take it away in the first place. Sometimes, all we need is someone who understands. Someone who's there to listen. These two young women will soon find their story evolving and changing at a breakneck pace, but that's alright because they have each other to make it seem like time is standing still._

* * *

We met in the summer before junior year of high school. The heat was oppressive and our summer jobs as workers at the local public pool didn't help because we had to sit around for hours on end just staring at strangers having more fun than we would ever have at that hell hole. But perhaps it was our bond as two teenagers who just did _not_ want to be there that made the experience for the both of us enjoyable.

* * *

The pool opened on June 20th, shortly after school let out. Since it was my first day on the job, I had to go in early so I could get educated on what to do at each job assignment, though I was informed that I would be spending most of my time at the front desk or cleaning up around the place. Once the bored girl with orange hair had finished telling my vaguely how to do things, she asked if I had any questions, to which I responded negatively. She shrugged, sighed, and went to open the garage doors to the building that held the offices, changing rooms, bathrooms, and showers. It had steel blue paint on all of the cinder block walls and a strange beige horizontal stripe halfway up the wall. The building itself was elevated from the rest of the town and had steps leading up to the large opening which was punctuated by a half wall which separated the pool-goers from the desk workers twiddling their thumbs in a room with two computers, card scanners, and dust-covered filing cabinets. On either side of the desk area were hallways which led to gender segregated, symmetrical locker rooms that blended into bathrooms that blended into showers. Once through that wet, uncomfortable hallway of rooms, the pool was ahead.

As I settled down in a desk chair at the desk that I would be working that day, I heard someone clear their throat meekly to get my attention. I spun around to face the person, remaining seated, but raised my eyebrow in confusion when I saw a short girl with blue eyes and golden hair tied in a low ponytail. She wore a fitted white shirt and revealing red shorts. When I simply looked her up and down and licked my lips a little, she blushed and giggled. I had come to the realization that I liked other girls as a child, so I was pretty shameless in my checking people out. Surprisingly, though, she didn't seem to hide herself at all or protest, so I questioned if she was like me too. I may have just gotten lucky…

"Hi! I'm Christa Lenz," she greeted, putting her hand out for me to shake. I took it with a grin and kissed it. Looking up at her devilishly, I kept her hand close to me, savoring the feel of its softness before replying.

"I'm Ymir. Nice to meet you," I purred. In response, she just smiled back at me and I swear I saw a glint of challenge in her eye, as if she was daring me to keep going after her in a playful chase.

"Thank you. I'm working at the desk today too, so I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other today. I have to say, I am glad to have met you. You go to the high school, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I just moved cross country over here. It's really lucky that I've made a friend already."

"Oh, please. Someone like you? You'd get all the guys in a flash."

"Well that's unfortunate. I don't want all of the guys. Or…any of them. Not that I wouldn't be flattered, of course, but-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the first guest of the day walked in. Immediately, she plastered on a big, fake smile and welcomed them to the pool. I mentally cursed the family out as a large crowd gathered behind them, eager to get the best spots for their towels in the shade. It was a busy day after that and I never had the chance to ask her what she was going to say.

* * *

"Hey," I began, prompting Christa to look up at me from her papers. "Wanna go back to the pool?"

"The pool that we worked at in high school?" she asked, raising a confused eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'll be fun. We can walk around and remember all the stuff we did back then. It's when we met, after all. I could stand to relive that," I continued, walking over to where she sat and draping my arms over her shoulders from behind as I glanced over the assignment she was doing. She was studying to become a veterinarian, which I thought was cute at first, but it took up so much of her time. Hell, our sex life was on the back burner so she could spend quality time with some stupidly outdated book from before we were born. But if it would make her happy, I would support her.

"I'd love to, but I don't know if I can, baby."

"Christa…," I breathed, pain riddling my voice.

"Uh… On second thought, I could spare _one_ weekend to visit home."

"Thank you." I kissed her cheek lightly and headed off to do my own studies. Since physical fitness came easily to me, I had decided to get my degree in kinesiology so I could be a personal trainer. Aside from my interest in the subject, it offered me the freedom to go wherever Christa had to for her veterinary career. God knows I'd follow that girl anywhere.

"Hey, baby!" she called from the other room. I could see the gentle orange light of her desk lamp from under the crack of the door of our bedroom, which I used to study.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, this fic is gonna switch between stuff that happened when they worked at the pool and their lives as college students. It shouldn't be too, too confusing. Anyway, lemme know how you like it so far and what you'd like to see in the future. Have a great day!


	2. Kiss

A/N: I know this is super duper short, but I figured I'd make up for it next time, because that's when the fun begins. Please enjoy!

* * *

The first week of the season had been hell, but by the second week, things had calmed down significantly and people came in at a more regular pace. Christa and I had the same assignments all the time because the management liked to partner workers up for whatever reason, so we'd gotten pretty close working together for hours and hours every day.

After closing time one day, we had cleanup duty, so we both rolled our eyes, cursed under our breaths, and got to work. Luckily, the sun was setting, making the task a little more manageable.

Once we were finished cleaning, it dawned on me that we were very alone. Our boss had long since left and told us to lock up after we were done with the place. My heart began to pound fast while we headed inside the building. We put away the cleaning supplies in the closet. Just as I went to grab my backpack and head out, she grabbed me by the front of my dark green shirt and pushed my back against the wall. The look of surprise on my face must have amused her, because she chuckled with a devious grin before our lips met.

We kissed for a long time before both of us began to get handsy. My hands traveled down her body and I reached into her shorts, wanting to satisfy that urge. She stopped my hand with a playful smiled and whispered in my ear, "tune in next time for a continuation of tonight's show." She then grabbed her purse and waved goodbye. And just like that, she had disappeared into the night. I stood there with my mouth agape, panting, for a long time. Eventually my knees buckled and I found myself on the freshly-cleaned floor.

"Shit… That just happened," I whispered to myself with a smile.

* * *

Christa's hair was shining gold in the sunlight. We'd gone out to get frozen yogurt on our lunch breaks to celebrate our weekend trip to our hometown, just an hour or two from the city. Once our yogurt was all gone, we walked down the street together back towards campus. We had our arms around each other's waists, just holding each other close to feel the combined presence of us and savoring the touch before what would be a long day of classes and then work and then homework.

A short, middle-aged man approached us on the street, looking angry. I looked down at him as he spat his pointed words at us. "You'll go to Hell for that! Homosexuals will burn in the deepest pits of Satan's -"

"That sounds hot," I quipped, grinning. Just as he was about to launch into another tirade, I noticed a small crowd gathering. Sooner than he could preach, Christa and I had the same thought and began to kiss passionately. I could hear people cheer and see camera flashes. The sound of the crowd was louder than the man's threats. When the moment was finally over, we flashed bright smiles at the man, who scurried off into the throngs of other city-goers. The people in the crowd quickly dissipated too, but that didn't stop our hearts from going aflutter with the excess adrenaline and dopamine from that rebellious display of public affection.

We went on our merry way and continued on with our days, but I couldn't help but to remember the first time we kissed. It was back at the pool that we were going to visit. There were so many memories there. I savored them as I listened to and took notes on my lecture, and as I served customers their mocha frappes with soy, two shots of espresso, and extra foam…or something. The customers didn't seem to mind me being more chipper than usual, but I could hear my coworkers gossiping about me 'getting some'. I didn't care much for their gossip. They could think what they wanted to, but the memories I had were far more entertaining than just one hurried fuck.

* * *

A/N: Get ready for some more...entertaining...retellings in the next update. Please let my know what you thought of this and what you think should happen next in the reviews. Have a great day.


	3. Skinny Dipping

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I got a minor case of writer's block. Please enjoy!

* * *

After a long drive, we finally pulled into the parking lot of the dilapidated place where we used to work. The two of us exited the car and took a moment to look at the condemned building. The windows and doors were boarded up and there were posters that told people to stay away put up all around. Christa shed a tear and I held her close, trying to comfort her as well as myself. It was a place that held so many memories for the both of us and it had a special place in our hearts. After what seemed to be an eternity of just regarding it in disbelief, I broke the silence.

"Wanna break in and take one last look?"

"It's condemned."

"I know that, but I'll protect you. It'll just be a bit."

"Okay," she agreed, wiping the tears from her eyes. I grabbed a corner of the old chain-link fence and pulled it up so we could wriggle under it. The doors from the cracked and overgrown pool area to the attached building were rusted open and we entered through the girls' area door due to force of habit. The showerheads were rusted and the area smelled musty. The bathroom stall doors were in various stages of detachment and many of the toilets were overflowing from water that leaked in through the ceiling. The floor was wet and there were miscellaneous things floating in the puddles that formed from indents of overused floor.

When we finally got to the lobby area, I saw the door to the employees' desk section slightly ajar and pulled on the door lightly only to have it fall off its eroded hinges completely so I had to rest it against the nearby wall. When we entered I flashed back to times not so long ago, though seeing the place in such a condition made it seem that several decades had passed. When we had known it, the institution hadn't been in the greatest repair, but it almost seemed wrong to see it so shamefully. Again I held the blonde woman close, and this time she wrapped an arm around me as well. I didn't think it would be so depressing to see it again. Looking around, I saw a dip in the concrete floor with water steadily dripping in. As I kept looking at it, I remembered what events had occurred there.

"Hey, remember that dip in the floor?" I inquired, nudging Christa lightly.

"Should I?"

"You don't remember? Look at it!"

Eventually, I saw a slight smile touch her lips and she pulled me closer. "Now I remember… It was a fun night."

* * *

Ever since the first night that Christa and I were assigned cleaning duty, we requested to do it every week on Friday nights. Those nights were the highlight of my summer. It was better than catching the Saturday morning cartoons with the blinding colors. It cheered me up when the local hooligans carved 'fag' into the seat of my bike. It was summer.

On the first Friday in July, I willed the day to pass by quickly. I scanned cards and took money with an infectious smile on my face. Christa seemed almost surprised at first, but then I got the feeling that she figured out what was making me so happy because she couldn't help but to giggle every time she looked at me.

Once the wailing six-year-olds with tired, wire-haired, blonde mothers and hairy-obese bachelors had all evacuated the building, the other staff members follow after them. We headed out to the pool to do our weekly rounds, cleaning syncronously without having to say a word because of the routine we'd already fallen into. When it was done, I stretched a little, feeling a breeze along my midriff from the shirts that just showed off the bellybutton. Looking back, those shirts were horrendous and impractical, but what can I say? It was enough to get the blonde to look at me.

"Wanna go skinny dipping?" Christa asked quietly.

"Wouldn't we get in trouble?"

"We're the only ones here," she said offhandedly, already kicking off her shorts. I grinned slightly when I realized that I had no choice in the matter and joined her in undressing. Our clothes were strewn messily around as we both cannonball jumped into the pool.

Swimming around was kind of fun, but after an hour or two, we got cold and went inside, white towels wrapped around our shivering frames.

"You know, there is another way to…get warmer," I whispered in her ear.

* * *

Christa's hips were nicely nestled in a dip in the floor and everything was set. But I was beginning to get cold feet.

"I've never done thing before," I warned, not able to meet her gaze. I felt a damp hand grip my face from under my chin and pull it to face the owner of the hand.

"That's alright. Neither have I. But we can play it by ear. Everything will be fine." I nodded with a slight smile and got to work.

* * *

It was slow and it was patient, unlike the frantic, drunken first times of several others I knew who would regret it later on. We were both sober and lucid. We knew what we were doing and trusted each other not to fuck it up (no pun intended). When Christa offered to return my favor, I simply shook my head. While I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it, I just told her I wasn't ready. Christa just smiled and stroked my face caringly.

"That's okay. I'll wait for you."

* * *

A/N: I don't know about you, but I thought that was cute... Let me know your thoughts in the reviews. Have a great day!


	4. Broken Girl

"WHY ARE YOU HOME SO LATE?" a familiar voice slurred.

"I had to clean up at the pool," I responded calmly, feeling myself shrink with fear as I carefully and quietly tip-toed to my room. I loved my mother with all of my heart, but when she drank, she was no longer my mother. It all started when Dad left us, and she just wanted to forget. Then it spun out of control and I was caught in the middle of the epic battle between her and the bottle, which she always lost.

I huddled in the familiar corner and waited, shivering, for the storm to pass, which it only did when the monster finally blacked out. When I thought it was safe, I peeked my head out of my room cautiously and saw her frame on the floor, still. Sneaking out from my fortress of safety, I went to go check on her, but saw in horror that she was facedown. I turned her over only to find that she had been in a small puddle of her own vomit. Horrified, I grabbed the phone and dialed 911, hands shaking fervently though I tried my best to calm them.

"Hello, 911, what is your emergency?"

"Yes, hello. I…um," I began, voice cracking and shaking and face feeling hot and wet from tears.

"Try your best to remain calm, miss."

"M-my mom, see, she's, um, a drinker and she, um, she, um, she, um, she d-drank a lo-ot to-to-to-tonight."

"Okay, yes. Go on."

"I, she, well… She passed out and I-I went to go-o che-e-e-eck on h-her and sh-she's…"

"Mhm."

"She's passed-d out a-and I d-d-d-don't know if sh-she's still a-a-a-a-alive bec-c-cause she was i-in he-er own v-v-vomi-it," I finally sobbed out, stuttering and spluttering.

"Alright. And what's your location?"

"I'm at the h-h-house. It's 41 C-cana-ary Ro-ad."

"Okay. You're doing a great job. Help is on the way. Stay on the line. How much did she drink tonight?"

"U-um… I d-d-dunno 'c-c-cause I we-ent right-t to my r-room, but-t I thi-ink a-a b-b-bottle o-of te-quila?"

"Okay. How often does this happen?"

"E-every ni-ight-t-t."

"Is your mother enrolled in an addiction recovery program?"

"No. She-e's no-ot an addict-t! Sh-she can s-stop whenever she wants-s-s!" I screamed, and hung up the phone, slamming it on the ground. It shattered into a million tiny shards and I saw my reflection in the shiny plastic.

I cried on the ground and hit the broken phone with my fist over and over and over until I heard a loud knock on the door. This made my cry out in agony. I didn't want people to see me like this, or her. I didn't want them to see us. But this just prompted them to break down the door. Suddenly people flooded into the main room and everything was a blur of people and shouting. People surrounded my mother and put her on a gurney and people surrounded me and picked me up. I kicked and screamed and scratched.

"DON'T TAKE ME! PLEASE DON'T TAKE US! PLEASE DON'T! STOP! PLEASE STOP! I WANT TO DIE."

They put me on a gurney too and strapped my down to it so I couldn't move. I flailed and spat at anyone who got near me, but eventually I got sleepy. Everything faded to black, and everything was slow again. The last things I heard were the frantic loud shouts of the EMTs as I began to cry anew.

"Please," I whispered, "I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want to have the nightmares. Please."

* * *

Obviously they didn't listen, because when I woke up, I was in a hospital. I could tell because everything was white. Even though my vision was blurry and my ears were still ringing, I could hear the steady beep of the heart monitor and see the vague outline of the IV next to me. There was a button in my lap that said "CALL" in big letters on it and I decided to press it. That would be the right thing to do. But when I looked down at my hands, I saw they were all bandaged up and looked like small clubs at the end of my arms. Distressed, I tried desperately to undo the bandaging, but it didn't work and it only hurt a lot, which caused me to let out a small whimper of pain. Nevertheless, I used my club hand to hit the call button and a nurse came around the corner, all smiles.

"Hello, miss. How are you feeling?"

"Dizzy."

"That's normal. It'll wear off with the sedative."

"Let me out. I'm okay now, I promise."

"Not so fast. You had a full force mental breakdown last night. You're on lock down until we can assure that you're not a danger to yourself or others."

"I'm not, okay? Just let me go!" I started to raise my voice, which prompted the nurse to give me a warning look. In my rage, though, I began to hit the various machines around me. The nurse gave a deep 'I hate my job' sigh and refastened the restraints around my ankles, wrists, hips, and forehead. In my frustration, I gave a loud, frustrated scream that must have echoed around the entire hospital. She got a syringe from a nearby cabinet and put it right next to the IV tube.

"Just a little bit to make you calm down a bit, okay? Just a bit."

"NO! NO! NO! NOOOOO!" I screamed like a banshee and thrashed a bit disputed the restraints, but again the fading feeling came over me and I fell back into unconsciousness.

When I came to again, I angrily called, "NURSE!" and the same nurse came to attend to me, though she looked less than thrilled this time.

"Are you ready to be let out of your restraints now?"

I nodded.

"You can't thrash or try to hurt yourself."

I nodded again. Reluctantly, she let me free and the first thing I did was to bend all my joints, relishing the freedom. Then I crossed my arms over my chest.  
"Christa."

"Who?"

"Christa."

"You want to see someone?"

I nodded and said, "Christa."

"Well I'm sorry but you're not cleared for visitors yet."

I furrowed my eyebrows at the nurse before turned my head away, refusing to talk to her if I couldn't see Christa.

* * *

A second passed. A minute passed. An hour passed. A day passed. A week passed. Nothing changed. I got to privilege to leave my bed and walk around the hospital with my IV in tow. Nothing changed. I got to eat real food. Nothing changed. During my time at the hospital, I learned that I was in the psych ward, and that I would have to see the hospital therapist and psychiatrist if I ever wanted to leave. So I did. And I learned that I was severely depressed. And I learned that I had anxiety. And I learned that I was an extremely broken person. And I had to take antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds, but they had to get my dose up to that of a full-grown elephant because I kept developing a tolerance. And I also learned that I had insomnia, and I had to take depressants for that, which didn't make much sense to me.

I wasn't allowed to be around anything I could hurt myself with. No cords, no sharp things, no especially hard things. They ground up my pills and mixed them with water so I couldn't choke myself on them. My existence was characterized by endless hours upon hours of watching the same feel-good movies, reading the same feel-good books, talking to the same fakely cheerful people and others in the psych ward with their demons and dark clouds following them relentlessly. In the infinite time I had to think in, I came to the conclusion that if I wasn't crazy going in, I was surely crazy having been there. I was surely driven mad by the endless white walls, by the unidentifiable slop that was served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, by the medications upon medications that made all my feelings muddy and bland. Eventually, as my depression worsened in the prison of nothingness, they informed me that a female staff member would have to watch me shower to make sure I didn't kill myself in there. I wasn't thrilled, but it all seemed so surreal. I took showers with a stranger watching, I watched movies with a stranger watching, I ate with a stranger watching, I urinated and excreted with a stranger watching. Often I wondered how I got into that rhythm, and, after a while, I couldn't remember.

* * *

When, after an eternity of floating around inconsequentially in the white land of blank stares and medicated haze, I was told that I was cleared to leave, I almost didn't believe them. But I didn't smile, I didn't laugh. Instead, I only nodded, took my personal effects and the medication they'd prescribed to me that my medical insurance would probably pay for, and left. I still wore the shapeless white shirt, white pants, and white treaded socks that the hospital had given me to wear as I walked around town carrying my sack of things that belonged to me. I realized as I wandered that I had nowhere to go. Not the place I'd slept before, I couldn't go back there. And then where else was there? I didn't have a home, I didn't have a family. I had nothing but the bag of things that belonged to me. I looked at that bag of things and threw it in the trash. I didn't need those things. So I just walked around town in my hospital garb. Nothing belonged to me, I didn't belong to anything. In a way, it was a peaceful existence. Peaceful and empty, yet loud and full. I found a small wooded area and figured that was as good as any place for me to be. I sat down at the base of a tree and leaned against the broad trunk. I closed my eyes, for the first time not afraid to sleep. In the days before, I'd learned that my bleary waking existence was just as scary as my bleary resting existence. Everything had melted into the same thing. Nothing mattered, and everything was too complicated, yet painfully simple.

Suddenly, a voice cut through my existential crisis blur.

"Ymir? Is that you?"


End file.
